Manchester

Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in northern New England. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester lies near the northern end of the Northeast megalopolis and straddles the banks of the Merrimack River. It was first named by the merchant and inventor Samuel Blodgett. His vision was to create a great industrial center similar to that of the original Manchester in England, which was the world's first industrialized city. In 1846, Manchester was home to the largest cotton mill in the world, stretching 900 feet (270 m) long by 103 feet (31 m) wide, and containing 4,000 looms. By 1912, the production of woven cloth in the Millyard had reached a production rate of 50 miles in length per hour. Manchester was formerly home to a streetcar network, the Manchester Street Railway. The streetcar network was replaced with a bus network in the 1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s the city faced a decline in manufacturing. An anthrax incident in 1957 led to the abandonment of the U.S. Army's Textile Mill. In 1941, Grenier Field on the city's border with Londonderry, was converted to a U.S. Army Air Force air base. The city's population has grown to more than 115,000 people, making it one of the most densely populated cities in New Hampshire.

History

Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack River is the heart of Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1722, John Goffe III settled beside Cohas Brook, later building a dam and sawmill at what was dubbed "Old Harry's Town" It was granted by Massachusetts in 1727 as "Tyngstown" to veterans of Queen Anne's War who served in 1703 under Captain William Tyng. But at New Hampshire's 1741 separation from Massachusetts, the grant was ruled invalid and substituted with Wilton, Maine, resulting in a 1751 rechartering by Governor Benning Wentworth as "Derryfield" In 1810, the mill was incorporated as the Amoskeag Cotton & Woolen Manufacturing Company. Incorporation as a city followed for Manchester in 1846, soon home to the largest cotton mill in the worldMill No. 11, stretching 900 feet (270 m) long by 103 feet (31 m) wide, and containing 4,000 looms. By 1912, the production of woven cloth in the Millyard had reached a production rate of 50 miles in length per hour. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the city began to expand outward, and many streetcar suburbs such as Mast Road were built. Manchester was formerly home to a streetcar network, the Manchester Street Railway. The streetcar network was replaced with a bus network in the 1940s. In 1941, Grenier Field, on the city's border with Londonderry, was converted to a U.S. Army air base.

Geography

Manchester is in south-central New Hampshire, 18 miles (29 km) south of Concord, the state capital, and the same distance north of Nashua. The city is 51 miles (82 km) north-northwest of Boston, the largest city in New England. Manchester is drained by the Merrimack River and its tributaries the Piscataquog River and Cohas Brook. The highest point in Manchester is atop Wellington Hill, where the elevation reaches 570 feet (170 m) above sea level. Manchester has a four-season humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with long, cold, snowy winters, and very warm and somewhat humid summers. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 25.6 °F (3.6°C) in January to 73.8°F (23.2 °C) on July 22, 2011. On average, there are 16 days of highs at or above 90 °C (32°F) and 3.0 days of lows at or below 0 °F annually. The major neighborhoods, historically, include Amoskeag, Rimmon Heights, Notre Dame/McGregorville and Piscat/Granite Square, also known as "Piscat", on the West Side; the North End, Janeville/Corey Square, Hallsville and Bakersville on the East Side; and Youngsville and Goffes Falls on the periphery of the city. In 2007, the city began a Neighborhood Initiatives program to "insure that our neighborhoods are vibrant, livable areas".

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 109,565 residents, 45,766 households, and 26,066 families in the city. The city is the center of the Manchester, New Hampshire, New England City and Town Area (NECTA), which had a population of 187,596 as of the 2010 census. The Manchester-Nashua metropolitan area, comprising all of Hillsborough County, is home to nearly one-third of the population of New Hampshire. The largest ancestry groups within the city's population were: French and French-Canadian (23.9%), Irish (19.5%), English (9.9%) and Italian (8.1%). As of the 2020 census, the city had aPopulation of 115,644. In 2011, the estimated median income for a household in theCity was $51,082, and the median income. for a family was $63,045. The per capita income for the city was $26,131. Of the population 14.1% and 9.6% of families were below the poverty line, along with 21.8% of persons who were under the age of 18 and nine.9% of Persons 65 or older. The average household size was 2.34 persons and the average family size was2.99. The median age was 36.0 years. For every 100 females, there are 98.5 males. For each 100 females age 18 and over, There are 96.6 males.

Economy

Manchester is northern New England's largest city. The Mall of New Hampshire is the city's main retail center. In 2001, the Verizon Wireless Arena, a venue seating more than 10,000, opened for major concerts and sporting events. As of 2017, the following organizations and companies were the largest employers in the Manchester ZIP Code area: Elliot Hospital, 3,682 employees; Catholic Medical Center, 2,600 employees; and Saint Anselm College, 689 employees. Manchester is the home of Segway, Inc., manufacturers of a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen. The city is nicknamed the Queen City, as well as the more recently coined "Manch Vegas" and the "Queen City of New England" The city has three main retail areas: downtown Manchester, South Willow Street (NH Route 28), and Second Street (NH Route 3A) on the West Side. The Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (formerly MerchantsAuto.com Stadium) is a baseball park on the Merrimack River in downtown Manchester and is home to the local AA baseball affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Historic Gill Stadium supported professional minor-league baseball into the early 21st century and continues to be a viable and popular downtown venue for many sporting and entertainment events. In recent years there has been continual redevelopment of the Amoskeag Millyard and its residential Historic District. The increasing popularity of downtown living has caused many properties originally built as tenement housing for mill workers in the 19th century to be converted to stylish, eclectic residential condominiums.

Arts and culture

Cultural landmarks include the historic Palace Theatre, the Currier Museum of Art, and the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Valley Cemetery, the resting place of numerous prominent citizens since 1841, is an early example of a garden-style burial ground. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum is another, smaller venue in downtown Manchester with a capacity of approximately 3,000 seats. Slam Free or Die, New Hampshire's only weekly slam poetry venue, is in Manchester and was voted "Best Poetry Venue in the World" by readers of Write Bloody Publishing. In 2009, the film Monsters, Marriage and Murder in ManchVegas was released referencing Manchester's popular nickname and using much of the city as its backdrop. Manchester has a growing collective of artists, due in large part to the influx of young students at the N.H. Institutes of Art and Southern New Hampshire University. The city is also home to the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, which has an art program that is considered one of the best in the country. The Manchester City Library has served the city's residents since the mid-1850s and has been housed in the Carpenter Memorial Building on Pine Street since 1914. There is a branch location on North Main Street on the West Side. In 2005, an article in Manchester's Hippo (a local alternative weekly) said that then-Mayor Robert A. Baines "is pushing to replace the nickname Manchvegas with Manchhattan" (meaning Manchester+Manhattan).

Sports

Manchester is the only city in New Hampshire with a professional sports team. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats play in the Eastern League. From 2001 to 2015, the Manchester Monarchs played in the American Hockey League. The city is home to McIntyre Ski Area, which opened in 1971. There are also college sports teams that play in and out of the city. Saint Anselm College is located less than a mile outside the city's border in Goffstown, although it has a Manchester postal address. Southern New Hampshire University is located primarily in Hooksett, but has its campus partially within city limits. The two colleges participate in the NCAA Division II Northeast-10 Conference, and the school with the most head-to-head victories in a school year earns the Queen City Cup. Both teams were based at the SNHU Arena (formerly known as the Verizon Wireless Arena.) From 2002 through 2009, the arena was also the home of a professional arena football team: the Manchester Wolves of AF2. In 2021, the Fisher Cats joined the newly established Double-A Northeast. The name, "Double-A Northeaster" lasted only a single season and the league was renamed Eastern League in 2022. In their final season in Manchester, the Monarchs won the league championship. From 2015 to 2019, the city hosted the lower-division Manchester Monarchy in the ECHL. The city was also home to the Manchesterwolves from 2002 until 2009, and later the Manchester Whales.

Government

Manchester is incorporated as a city under the laws of the state of New Hampshire. The mayor serves as chairman of the fourteen-member Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Each of Manchester's twelve wards elects a single alderman, and two additional at-large members are elected citywide. The school board is not a city department; rather, it is a school district coterminous with the city, which obtains financing from the city. Manchester is included within New Hampshire's 1st congressional district and is represented by Democrat Chris C. Pappas. At the presidential level, Manchester leans Democratic. George W. Bush narrowly carried the city by 170 votes in 2004, but no other presidential elections since then have been nearly as close. Joe Biden won the highest percentage of the vote in Manchester since 1964. The current mayor is Joyce Craig, a Democrat who has been in office since 2007. The city is represented in the New Hampshire Senate by three state senators, all Democrats: Kevin Cavanaugh, Donna Soucy, and Lou D'Allesandro. The New Hampshire Executive Council is also represented by Republican Ted Gatsas, the city's former mayor, who has served as mayor since 2006. The City of Manchester is located in the state's 4th congressional district, which is currently represented by Democrats Ted Gatas and Chris C.-Pappas, both of whom have served in the House of Representatives since 2008. The Mayor of Manchester, Joyce Craig is the current mayor.

Education

Manchester's public school system is run by the Manchester School District. The district has four public high schools, four public middle schools, and fourteen elementary schools. The city is served by three private high schools: Trinity High School, The Derryfield School, and Holy Family Academy. There are several charter schools in the city: The Founders Academy, a public charter school that began in the 2014-2015 school year for children in 6th to 12th grades, and Mills Falls Charter School. Area institutions of higher education, together enrolling more than 8,000 students, include: Franklin Pierce University, Manchester branch campus, and the University of New Hampshire at Manchester. Saint Anselm College, in the Pinardville neighborhood of the town of Goffstown, is adjacent to the city line and has a Manchester mailing address and telephone exchange. The town of Hooksett is on the boundary between Manchester and Hooksett and is home to the New Hampshire Institute of Art and New Hampshire College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. It is also home to Manchester Community College and Manchester Community and Technical College, both of which are part of the Manchester-Holland County School District, which has a total enrollment of more than 10,000. The City of Manchester has a population of 2.7 million people (as of the 2010 Census). The city's population was 2.8 million (as at the 2010 census) (as compared to the U.S. Census population of 1.9 million).

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire = 42.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 60. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Manchester = 3.2 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 115,644 individuals with a median age of 38.3 age the population grows by 1.93% in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,497.05 residents per square mile of area (1,350.23/km²). There are average 2.33 people per household in the 45,565 households with an average household income of $49,584 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.60% of the available work force and has dropped -3.32% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.76%. The number of physicians in Manchester per 100,000 population = 215.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Manchester = 39.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 60.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 123. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 195. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 12 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 52, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Manchester, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire which are owned by the occupant = 43.73%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 50 years with median home cost = $171,570 and home appreciation of -10.29%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $23.37 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,720 per student. There are 14.6 students for each teacher in the school, 430 students for each Librarian and 303 students for each Counselor. 8.05% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 15.41% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 7.00% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).